U.S. employers accelerated their hiring last month, adding a robust 288,000 jobs and helping drive the unemployment rate to 6.1 percent, the lowest since September 2008.

It was the fifth straight monthly job gain above 200,000, the best such stretch since the late 1990s tech boom. Over the past 12 months, the economy has added nearly 2.5 million jobs, 208,000 a month, the fastest year-over-year pace since May 2006.

Thursday’s jobs report from the Labor Department made clear that the U.S. economy is moving steadily closer to full health after having shrunk at the start of the year.